Washington Post reporter Dan Lamothe explains why President Trump launched 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian military airfield on April 6 and what this means for the fight against the Islamic State. The strikes targeted al-Shayrat air base in Homs province, from which the Syrian military allegedly launched chemical weapons attacks against civilians Tuesday. [U.S. strikes Syrian military airfield in first direct assault on Bashar al-Assad’s government]The Tomahawk has been a critical part of U.S. warfare since the Persian Gulf War in 1991 and commonly carries a 1,000-pound warhead. President Trump on April 6 said the U.S. military struck a Syrian military airfield in retaliation for a chemical attack on Syrian civilians that occurred April 4. The missiles would not cause as much damage to a runway as a larger Air Force bomb launched from a bomber or fighter.

Source: Washington Post April 06, 2017 23:18 UTC